


Petro Liams Family Counseling

by Ladsalt



Category: Dystopia Rising (Live-Action Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Abuse, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Child Neglect, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Face-Fucking, Gore, Incest, M/M, Mind Break, Past Abuse, Physical Abuse, Rape Aftermath, Sexual Abuse, Sibling Incest, Victim Blaming, Vomiting, Wound Fucking, degredation, fracture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:15:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29600922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladsalt/pseuds/Ladsalt
Summary: Petro returns home for the first time since he ran away years before. Everything is gone now, except their brother waiting for them in the tunnels.
Relationships: Original Male Character(s)/Original Non-Binary Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Petro Liams Family Counseling

Tw: Familia abuse, sexual abuse, degradation, emeto, victim blaming, noncon, incest, violence, gore

"Dredliners saw you in Marta. Fix that hair if you don't want to get remembered. Been a long time. We should talk, come home tonight."

Petro looked over the note for what must have been a hundredth time as they pressed a hand to their shoulder where a deep bite had scarred over years before.

They felt….as though they should think it was a bad idea to go. And yet...they wanted to go.

Earlier that day even they might have thought it would be a bad idea but… Something about their conversation with Augustus Ren...something about the blood moon tenets, about Dredline… it seemed right to go and see the past settled.

So late that night, after a long while of uncertainly pacing, Petro went back to Marta.

It was not as they remembered it, and they were not sure they would know the way after so many years...but muscle memory took over as they walked along the defunct tracks. They passed a few wide open platforms that had once been crowded bustling living areas- particularly the ones closer to the city center. But now they were empty. Petro felt a strange pang, seeing a rotting structure that picked over and in shambles that had once partitioned off a room for a family they remembered. The further they walked down the line the more eerily familiar ...but not quite things became. 

There was a notch in the track they had once used to tell their way home...there on that platform… they had once played and now...there was nothing but broken wood and shattered tile… there near a pile of long cold ashes they'd met their first lover...

There in that corner they had once slept.

Petro froze at the opening of the tunnel to the platform for a moment looking around for any sign of life. But the platform was just as abandoned as the others had been. So they went over and clambered up off the tracks to walk slowly towards the spot their family had once lived. 

There was nothing of note, no items or keepsakes Petro realized and wondered why they had expected to find any… the place had been scavenged and looted for years after the war no doubt. Nothing left but broken wood and bits of refuse-

"Took you long enough...I didn't expect you'd show up…"

Petro turned on the spot taking a step back towards the corner as they recognized the voice, "… Why wouldn't I?"

"Thought you might be smarter than that,” Petro wasn’t sure if Pillar had perhaps crept out of the other tunnel or if they had not seen him standing there, but they forced themselves to stay where they were as he climbed onto the platform as well, “Mom always said you weren't smart though…”

Petro bristled, raising a hand to his chest as he frowned, “She did always say the same about you...but, sorry ….ah, how is she?”

Pillar shrugged, peering strangely at them and looking Petro over,” Sunk for good probably, haven’t seen her in... a few years… “

“Oh… and… the others?”

“Well, Dad never came back, Penny and Mom got separated from the rest of us in a green line attack… Haven’t seen them since. Found Prudence again but she’s got herself all involved in Dredline, so knowing 40watt she’ll be dead soon too.”

“I...oh…Mom and Penny Lee didn’t deserve that…” Petro’s face fell and they seemed to deflate listening to Pillar, though of course they had always figured they’d never see any of them again but…

Pillar shook his head and snorted, “Well… Penny didn’t.”

Petros mouth fell open as they gaped for a moment, comically shocked and confused,“What ….do you mean? Neither of them did! No one deserves to die...and not, like that…”

“Whatever- she deserved whatever she got- Can’t believe after your tantrum you’d still defend her.”

“She’s our mother!” Petro exclaimed incredulously.

Pillar scowled, “ Always telling us how much we must hate her? Telling us how we weren't good enough, how much of a burden we all were?…and pitting us against each other like- anyway….Some mom…”

“She...did her best,” Petro said after a moment and touched one of their necklaces clicking the beads through their fingers thoughtfully, “You know, she's not….wrong….we were not easy children to raise.”

“You were her favorite- that’s why you’ll still defend her after everything,” Pillar snapped stalking a few steps closer to them, “Did you think you were the only one who had something to run away from here? Did you think you were the only one who wanted to cut her throat some nights?”

“I...didn’t think…” Petro’s heart jumped into their throat suddenly racing as they stayed rooted in place, “I didn’t think, I just left, and- and you could have too!”

“I don’t leave my family to fend for themselves,” Pillar hissed baring his teeth suddenly and clenching his fists, “Penny was little, you think Mom wouldn’t have fed off her if they were hungry enough? You think Mom and Prudence could have fed all three of them? Would you have trusted them to- not that you cared-”

“I was little once too,” Petro said glaring back at Pillar before taking a step forward, “Not that you cared…and if….I was her favorite, I paid enough for that privilege….”

They stood staring at each other a moment waiting for the tension to break before Petro relented, finally looking away and added, “But I'm sorry...if...things were more difficult after….”

Pillar looked away suddenly also and opened his mouth ineffectively, and then clenched his teeth shut and changed the subject quickly, “Shit happens…,You’re doing well out there huh?” They were standing near enough that Pillar could reach out to tug on Petros veil and he did with a teasing thin smile, “ Met one of your little friends- you pick good ones- wouldn’t say a word about you.”

“I get by-... you met…? Who?”

“Don’t remember their name, Tasty iron…”

Petro stiffened and Pillar smiled toothily noticing the sudden flash of anger across his siblings face. They snatched the edge of their veil out of his hand.

"What did you do to them?" Petros voice didn't rise, but their hand was clutched around the fabric they had snatched away, and there was a strained edge to their tone.

"Eh… had a snack," Pillar shrugged and reached out casually again to tug at Petros poncho, " They kept saying you were gonna kill me for taking some bites out of them…"

Petro bares their teeth suddenly and draws their knife. Before they get a chance to attack, Pillar grabs their poncho. Trying to pull them up against a wall. They choke the cloak caught at their neck, and then they've ducked out of the loose garment. Leaving Pillar holding their necklace and the cloak and their hat knocked off in the process.

"If you want to talk to me- you find me! Leave my friends alone!" Petro snapped at him brandishing the knife between the two of them.

Pillar throws the cloak at them and Petro stumbles and then yelps as Pillar jumps on them before they can cast it off. Both Lascarians tumble to the ground thrashing and clawing.

“Fuck!” Pillar curses suddenly and Petro yanks their arm back and sees the blade of their knife coated in blood as Pillar touches a fresh bleeding wound on his arm an angry growl rising in his throat.

A moment of petrifying panic made the breath freeze in Petro’s throat as they looked from their knife to Pillar, Then they snarled back and drove the knife into his shoulder again hard enough that they pushed Pillar back and crawled out from under him, “Hurt my friends again I will kill you!”

It had been a mistake to come. Their feet kicked over loose rubble as they squirmed away and jumped down from the platform. They didn’t bother to collect their coverings- it should still be night- but the fear they felt twisting their stomach almost made them freeze in panic again. Pillar would kill them if he caught them.

They took off running down the tunnel, forgetting to check if it was the way they'd come from. It seemed like they'd lose Pillar then, and regardless of the way they'd gone they'd find their way out- there was a metallic screech and something bit into their leg. They couldn't stifle a cry as their leg twisted under them and Petro fell forward. Their palms scraped over the tunnel floor as they scrambled up clutching at their calf. Pained moans slipping through their teeth as they grabbed at the trap they'd stepped on with shaking hands.

Metal spines dug deep into their flesh and their leg twisted in the grip of the mechanism in such a way that Petro wasn't sure it would matter if they could open it. They could hear footsteps approaching and they couldn't help a desperate exhale that was more like a panicked sobbing as they searched for the release on the trap.

"Prudence helped set these up, for stupid surface dwellers who don't look where they're goin," Pillar chuckled as he approached.

Petro found the release and clicked it open exclaiming shakily as the trap released their leg. They crawled up and tried to stand. Pain shot up their leg and they yelped, falling back to their hands and knees. A hand fisted in their hair and pulled their head back forcing them off of their hands.

"She's real good at coming up with ideas for catching meals," Pillar yanked their hair again, dragging Petro onto their back.

Their only reply was a strangled wail as they scratched at the hand in their hair and their body was pulled over their mangled limb. Pillar let go of their hair to grab their hands clutching Petro’s thin wrists in one hand as he looked around for a way to restrain them more permanently. His eyes fell on the trap that had caught Petro a few feet away.

Keeping their wrists caught between his hands Pillar dragged Petro back the smaller lasky thrashing and sobbing. 

Pillar held their arms against the teeth of the trap.

"NO! Pillar! I-Im sorry please- don't don-"

Petros voice cut off in a scream that echoed down the Marta tunnels as Pillar restrung the spring of the mechanism clenching it tight around their wrists. Their legs jerked and they arched their back as their screams faded into hoarse shaky sobs again. Gulping and hyperventilating as they writhed in pain the teeth of the trap digging deeper and tearing into more flesh with every movement. Pillar pushed his siblings legs apart pulling them up over his as he seated himself between them, leaving down at Petros dazed tear streaked face.

He pulled their shirt up over their head leaving it bunched around their hands. Petro whimpered and a few new sobs escaped them as they clenched their eyes shut, they had stopped struggling for the moment trying to catch their breath.

Pillar squinted thinking for a second it might be a trick of the light, and then put his palm on Petro’s torso digging his finger into the rough texture of scarred over skin to confirm that’s what the dark marks on Petro’s torso were. 

“You didn't get all these from us…” Pillar said curiously tracing the scars roughly making Petro gulp and cry out weakly.

"This one," He dug his fingers into the jagged bite in their shoulder, drawing another cry from Petro, and then ran his thumb more lightly over a ring shaped bite mark on Petros stomach half hidden by their pants," and this one I know I did… but…"

Pillars claw moved from the waist of their pants up the middle of their torso across the scar there and then over their collar and up their neck, "These are ...new, you been letting anybody take a bite out of you huh?"

"N-no," Petro squirms every movement pulling at their arms caught in the trap drawing out shaky whimpers. There's a noticeable bulge at their groin and they can't twist their body enough to cover their dick straining against their pants.

"Yeah you do, bet you beg for them to take you, like you are now," Pillar grabs their crotch roughly and Petro yelps before more wheezing sobs slip past their teeth. 

Petro pulls at the trap with renewed vigor, their breaths becoming shallower, more hysterical, as they shake their head thrashing on the ground in spite of the pain in their mangled limbs"Please- don't!"

"Please don't pleeease~ ...stop lying..," Pillar teased mimicking a frightened warbling voice as he felt Petros' hard dick through their pants. Squeezing it experimentally making Petro shiver, his palm and fingers pressing and stroking the bulge to examine its shape,"You think I never noticed you getting turned on being eaten, getting knocked around, you're a real freak y'know that?"

"I don't- stop that!" They couldn't seem to stop crying even as they growled and twisted their legs trying to kick at Pillar again, saying nothing about how they weren't the one who'd been feeling up their siblings cock.

Pillar struck them, and the sound and the resulting yelp it drew from Petro echoed down the tunnel. He leaned over them and grabbed the trap, ignoring Petro's sudden frantic begging as they started to sob again Pillar leaned on the mechanism. Petros sobs cut off into an expression of open mouthed agony as fresh blood ran from the wounds followed shortly by gristly pops.

Just before it seemed like Pillar meant to sever their hands entirely he eased up, flipping the release on the mechanism. Fearful of what would happen if they spoke again Petro remained silent except for their strained sobbing. Carefully, Pillar took their top the rest of the way off and then folded Petro's mangled hands against their chest. The motions were so slow, so nearly considerate, Petro thought the anticipation might make them vomit. It was almost welcome, at least for being more familiar territory, when Pillar groped them again. He stuck his hand down the front of Petro's pants and raised an eyebrow as he caught his shell shocked siblings eye.

"That make you cum? God, you're a real piece of work…"

“F-fuck you,” Petro spat back suddenly snarling“ You’re sick- Bastard!” 

A hand shot out and grabbed their neck pinning them to the floor and Petro regretted everything they had ever said that had led them to be there. Pillar sunk his teeth into their throat and tore it out. Their scream cut off in a gurgle of blood. They pawed feebly at his hands, his face, the gaping hole in their neck as they felt blood washing up their throat.

They heard fabric moving as Pillar undid his pants and stood. He grabbed their hair to pull them up and Petro barely registered the pain. God they were hard again…. Pillar shoved his cock into their face, and then to Petro’s greater horror he pulled their head back to expose the wide gash in their throat. They tried to scream again as he forced his cock into their neck but all that came up as a few air bubbles in a rush of blood as he fucked them. 

Pillar yanked their head roughly sinking his full length into them and watching through Petro’s open mouth agonized expression as the head of his cock entered the back of their throat while they wheezed. Their eyes started to roll back in their head as their arms hung limp at their sides. After a few thrusts they felt cold, their vision going dark as the cock kept slamming into their throat. Their lungs were filling up with blood and precum, and then actual cum as Pillar pulled them tight against his body, his dick twitching inside of them. Petro’s eyes rolled back further and they shuddered feeling cum running down their leg again as well.

Petro sagged onto the floor as Pillar stepped back his dick dripping blood and cum. The same mix of fluids spilled from Petros neck and frothed at the edges of the hole in their throat. They lay slumped where they fell, unmoving except for the fluid leaking from their mouth and neck.

Pillar winced face going pale as Petro lay there motionless. He grabbed at Petro again feeling their pockets and then ran back down the tunnel where they had dropped their pack and cloak. Upending the pack and kicking quickly though its contents Pillar grit his teeth- there! Under some now shattered glass there was a syringe. He made it back relieved to see they had not begun to sink and jammed it into Petro’s throat.

They jerked and then tried to gasp as the contents of the syringe knit the gash in their neck back together. Petro choked instead struggling to their hands and knees as they wheezed. Their face started to go red as they raised a hand to their neck. It's a few desperate seconds as Petro clutches their throat eyes wide, before they finally cough and then gasp deeply. Their mouth hangs open as they gulp air looking relieved and a trickle of thick white fluid runs down their face.

Finally they look up at Pillar with watering eyes. Their ears are ringing, and the tunnel seems alternately too dark and impossibly bright in flashes. Pillar had been watching them, and Petro sort of rolled onto their back. They felt woozy unsteady like everything was spinning around them.

"...Do you feel better?" They croak after a moment, wincing and pressing a hand to their throat.

"...What?"

"Did...that...make you feel….better?" It occurred to Petro this was a strange thing to ask, that they should get up and run.  
They did not.

"You fucking sassing me you little-"

Pillar took a step towards them and Petro flinched, " I-Im not! ...I just want to know… if you feel better…"

Pillar took a step back peering at them strangely, "You get cracked in the head or you just a stupid slut?"

"I dont know…"

Was this what fractures could feel like? Like their whole path had led up to this- to give them what they would need for this encounter? Their head didn't feel broken- didnt feel cracked. It felt like their mind had been out of alignment their whole life and finally settled into place. Everything was pretty like that… a little hazy and soft… ah but maybe that was the bloodloss…

A fracture can be beneficial.

"If you need to take more….to feel better...I can give more," Petro blinked as those words echoed in their head and for a second the memory of when they had said that to the Children of Death to charge their crystals was so vivid they nearly forgot where they were.

"D'you even hear me?"

Petro nodded and then grit their teeth pushing themselves upright with their elbows so suddenly they felt nauseous, staring intently up at Pillar. They felt the path they had walked laid out behind them, and if they chose carefully...they could sense too all the places it could lead.

How many pieces of me I can lose before I'm nothing but an empty shell… I thought I was empty already …. Another memory seemed to rattle through their head. Petro had said they understood but ...they couldn't have...they felt like a cup about to spill. They had so much to give.

Petro tried to grab at Pillars hand fumbling with their mangled wrists as they pulled themselves up and the other lasky grimaced and tried to pull back

“I’ll gut you you little shit-”

"No you won't…" Petro said and their eyes were wide as they swayed on their feet it might have been because of their lame foot but they did feel like they’d just taken an...unholy amount of spirit walk all at once, " You want to talk to me… you brought me here to talk to me..."

"What the fuck is wrong with you-"  
“Nothing! I dont know...I’m...overflowing- I’m here to give you something,” Petro rambled as they swayed and then they stumbled as they tried to take a step, “You’re sick I get it now. Im so sorry Im sorry I wish I could help- do you want help?”

Pillar took a step away from them as Petro winced, pressing their hands to their temples. A splitting headache bloomed from the center of their forehead.

“You’re sick, sick- I’m sorry-” Petro stumbled again and then collapsed on their mangled limbs as they continued babbling. Words spilled out of them as they were overwhelmed by the sudden vision of all their paths overlapping glowing lines radiating out from them made of all their possible actions, “But you don’t want help, you want to talk, talk to me so I can give you what you need. I’ll give it-please take it! So much- overflowing-”

Pillar takes a step towards them again and Petro cringes drawing their hands closer around their head to protect them from more than their headache. Their brother paused and then moved up more slowly to pick them up. The incessant babbling paused for a second the moment Pillar grabbed them under their legs Petros eyes snapping shut as they let out a shuddering breath. But they don’t fight Pillar as he grabs them and carries them hive. Petro watches the glowing lines fade to a mere extra sense, there if they reach out for it otherwise fading into the background. More slowly they stop babbling, and realize they are very tired.

Petro shudders as Pillar curls up next to them to sleep. And they feel their chest tighten, and their breath stops as he wraps his arms around them holding them close and pressing his chest to their back. Petro can hear the rattling in the pipes around them… creatures scurrying in the darkness...they hear when Pillars breath evens enough that they know he's asleep, and they pass the night staring at the wall trying to remember to breathe everytime their brother stirs in his sleep.

When Pillar finally does wake up Petro remains motionless on the floor. Their brother shakes them at first, calling their name. Petro flinches and that’s enough for Pillar to pull his hand back and they can feel him watching them lay there with their eyes closed too stiff to pretend to sleep convincingly.

Eventually Pillar must have gotten bored because Petro heard him get up muttering darkly to himself as he gathered things and moved things about in the cramped space. Pillar paused and Petro was sure he was watching them again...and then he left, his footsteps echoing down the Marta access ways.

They should try to get up. 

Hesitantly they tested their limbs, slowly curling and uncurling their hands. Rotating the wrists and then doing the same with their leg. The limbs weren’t mangled anymore at least. Petro pushed themselves up gingerly.

They should take off running out of Marta. They could probably make it before Pillar noticed them missing. They couldn’t very well pretend there was anything to salvage here after last night- Petro flinched. They were so tired…

When Pillar returned they were lying pressed up against a corner near where they'd been left. He swallowed looking at them and Petro watched carefully as his face went slack.

"I...I'm…," Pillar struggled to speak, and then his mouth snapped shut and he reached into a bloody bag to toss the warm carcass of a rat the size of a small dog at Petro, "You should eat."

The dead creature hit the ground with a wet sound in front of Petro and a spatter of blood hit their leg. They stared at it a moment and then shook their head and pulled their legs to their body, their arms tight around them and the bags under their eyes particularly pronounced. 

Pillar scowled and shook his head muttering about Petro being ungrateful. They leaned against the wall watching Pillar from the corner of their eyes as he sat down to tear into the meat of one of the vermin.

As he ate it became clear that Pillar had not spoken with anyone in a long time. He ate voraciously, and Petro saw him glance at them several times. Every so often Pillar started a sentence talking out loud about things he needed to do, making vague plans and then Petro would shift or catch his eye in some way and he'd fall abruptly silent and look over Petro like he'd forgotten they were there.

Hungry and exhausted, they couldn't keep their eyes open much longer, and eventually Petro sagged their cheek pressed against the wall as they dozed off. Pillar slept on a pile of moldy rotten looking clothing He’d collected near the door of the maintenance passage

The next day when Pillar brought them food again and again they declined it the same way and Pillar tensed up angrily.

“Why are you still here? I’m not keeping you! Don’t you have anything to do?”

Petro closed their eyes and pulled their legs up closer to themselves as they shook their head.

“No? What about your friend? You don't got any Darwin bullshit to do?”

They smiled to themselves at that turning their head away from Pillar. Their friend... would be fine, well...no they never were but, there was never anything Petro could do for them…

“You’re just gonna sit there and not say anything?!”

They did that.

The next thing they knew Pillar had slammed them back into the corner they were in and was trying to pry their mouth open and force the meat down their throat. Choking and gagging Petro beat at Pillars chest as he tore shreds of meat and tried to force his hand in their mouth. They started to cry as they pushed weakly at their brother’s claws digging into their cheeks. Pillar finally shoved the meat in far enough for Petro to retch, bile coming up their throat and spilling out the sides of their mouth as Pillar pulled his hand back swiftly.

“Fuck!- you little-!”

Petro hunched over to cough up the bile and meat as Pillar jumped back and out of the way of the mess. They coughed so hard it forced more hot tears down their face and Pillar stood and took a step back. As they glanced up at Pillar, face red and wet, eyes bloodshot, Petro saw his eyes widen and he turned away quickly. An expression they did not recall ever seeing on their brothers face-

“Sorry.”

And there was another kind of expression that they had also never heard Pillar say to them…

It was morning most likely because Pillar was laying on his pile of clothes looking like he was going to sleep and Petro was curled up in their corner ready for another sleepless day. Pillar had just thrown a rag over their sick from earlier. Petro’s empty stomach ched and they felt dizzy and spent, but they could not have slept if they tried.

“Petro...do you, remember when we were kids?”

Petro blinked and looked over at Pillar and there was a rustle as he shifted to look at them as well. They frowned but nodded after a second. Pillar was silent so long they thought he had gone back to sleep.

“Do you...remember when Mom sent you and me and Penny out to scavenge...the time that...well you know which time…”

They did know. The memory of the first time Pillar had shove them into the dirt and bit the flesh of their arm when they were...twelve? Fourteen? They didn’t think of that night often, but it welled up as vivid as yesterday when they did. Petro closed their eyes and nodded again.

“I...look...you know it was...you know how things were you know how- You know….she told me to right?”

Petro’s eyes flew open, “What?”

“Oh ...he does talk~” Pillar couldn’t help chuckling, flashing his teeth through the darkness at Petro.

“She who?”

“You know she who...”

“Tell me…”

Pillar sat up, staring at a spot on the wall across from him. Petro remained quiet again but felt their blood rushing through their veins, anxious and they might have felt a little frantic in spite of their clarity their fracture given them, in spite of knowing Pillar had something they needed to hear, and which he needed to tell.

“Mom said to take you two out...she said make sure me and Penny got something to eat… I...asked what about you, I did...she just looked at me, and said… you were clumsy and not very strong, and they'd, understand if you ended up at the morgue….Mom said no one would care if you came out with, weird ideas about what happened out there...with me an Penny…”

"You...but..," Petro tilted their head as they looked at him, the words came easily to their mind though they struggled to speak over the heady drunk feeling that had come over them, "I didn't die that night….you didn't kill me…"

"I started a fight and I bit you and…I meant to kill you right up until then…I chickened out is all… coward shit."

"Ah…"

"And then you had the gall, the fucking nerve to come back and offer yourself up…" Pillar laughed dryly, "But...I’m… I mean, mom woulda never forgiven me for not...if you hadn't… well, whatever…"

“Its alright, evolution of the spirit comes from adversity,” The words felt like they were spilling from Petro’s mouth as they spoke, “ I don’t mind, that that was part of my path and I am grateful for where it has brought me.”

Pillar sighed and lay down again, “You’re talking out of a crack in your skull.”

“Mmm, yes. But I’m not wrong. I’m not stupid or niave.”

“Sure, just shut the fuck up and go to sleep now alright?”

On the third day Pillar left and told Petro to leave if they just wanted to rot and die in this hole. But when he came back he unwrapped a package on the floor next to Petro to offer them a stale half loaf of bread and some vegetables that had slightly more than half rotted. Petro’s mouth twitched up in what might have been a seconds long grateful smile as they took the bread. Their hands shook not from fear but simple hunger, tearing pieces of bread away to stuff into their mouth. They took sips from a water bottle Pillar gave them. For the first time since they'd been there Petro thought that they might have liked to stay and talk with him a bit. But… Pillar had brought their things back to his hive- Petro saw the glowing light of his path diverging from Pillars in their mind.

“You’re going feral…” Petro said simply as they got dressed to leave

Pillar snorted, “You would too down here…”

“Well...perhaps, but that’s not what I meant. You are different. I didn't realize why until I came back from the gravemind with clarity.”

“Ahh… clarity, that what you named the split in your skull?”

“Maybe…. It's not normal bad brain- you’d cure it- Prudence could cure it- she was good at that…” Petro stood up straight and paused, “You wanted to talk to me so you can die…”

Pillar watched them through narrow eyes seeming annoyed.

“Sorry… Can I do anything for you?”

“No...Prudence didn’t know how to fix it, and she said she’ll have to put me down- soon probably…Sooner than she thinks even given… well...she should do it soon.”

Petro looked at them sympathetically, “Do you want her to do it?’

“Good as anyone else I guess…”

“If you do hurt my friends again, I will have to do that myself. But aside from that, whatever debt you called me here to repay… whatever you needed from telling me, what Mom did...I am happy to consider it settled,” Petro said simply and then smiled at Pillar before they turned to leave still seeming rather unsteady on their feet.

“Whatever. Get your head fixed and see if that's how you feel after…..Bye...”

Petro winced as they left Marta and stepped into the light of the naked sun. Swaying slightly on their feet as the sun briefly illuminated rays and glowing paths spiralling out in every direction from them. They felt nauseous like they were floating. And then the moment passed and they could only sense the paths again. And easy as anything they stumbled forward down the right path.


End file.
